Gauze dispenser



Oct. 15, 1968 A. J. RUTZ 3,405,983

GAUZE DISPENSER Filed Feb. 16, 1967 v 2 Sheets-Sheet l V I I I INVENTORAlrher J. Rutz BY 'QW.H,Q.VK

ATTORNEY A. J. RUTZ Oct. 15, 1968 GAUZE DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledFeb. 16, 1967 FIG.8.

INVENTOR Almer J. Ruiz ATTORNEY BY @Ma. KQM

United States Patent 3,405,983 GAUZE DISPENSER Almer J. Rutz, Riverdale,N. Dak. 58565 Filed Feb. 16, 1967, Ser. No. 616,516 4 Claims. (Cl. 3123)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention comprises a strip gauzedispenser having a container with an annular portion and sidewallsdisposed laterally to the annular portion with said container beingadapted to receive a strip of gauze wound into a roll, said annularportion having an elongated slotted mouth for feeding the strip of gauzeout of the container in a continuous strip, said container havingelongated means for receiving portions of the operators hand so that thecontainer may be rotated relative to the operators hand whereby theoperator may engage the container with said portions of his hand andhold the outer end of the gauze to an object to be wrapped in his otherhand and rotate the dispenser about the object with the said one handcausing the dispenser to rotate relative to the hand and the gauze towrap about the object.

This invention relates to medicinal dressings, more particularly theinvention relates to medicinal gauze and to the handling of the same.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel gauze dispenser.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel gauzedispensing device which may be used to rapidly wrap gauze about anobject with a minimum of handling of the gauze.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel device fordispensing gauze whereby there is only a minimum amount of handling ofthe gauze as it is being unwrapped.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel dispenser forwrapping material about an object rapidly.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe description proceeds and when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the first preferred form of gauzedispenser invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the first form of gauzedispenser.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the first form of gauzedispenser invention.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the first form gauze dispenser invention.

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of the first form of dispenser takenalong line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a side-elevational view illustrating the manner of wrappingan object employing the dispenser invention.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a second modified form of gauzedispenser.

FIGURE 8 is a front elevational view of the second form of gauzedispenser invention.

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of the second form of gauzedispenser.

FIGURE 10 is a top plan view of the second form of gauze dispenserinvention.

Briefly stated, the invention comprises a gauze dispenser with acylindrical plastic container having a flat mouth projecting therefrom,a roll of gauze within the container with its outer end extended intothe mouth and adapted to be fed out therefrom, a hollow sleeve mountedadjacent the container adapted to receive an operators finger so thatthe container rnay rotate about the operators finger as the gauze iswrapped about an object.

In the modified form of the invention a rotating handle is mounted tothe container in lieu of the sleeve and the operator grasps the handleto rotate the dispenser about an object.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in FIG- URE 1, the firstform of the gauze dispenser invention is illustrated as having acylinder container 21 and a fiat mouth portion 22 extending therefrom. Ahollow sleeve 23 is fixed beneath the mouth portion 22 and adjacent thecontainer 21. The sleeve 23 is adapted to receive the finger of anoperator of the dispenser.

A roll of gauze 24 rests in the container with its outer end 24'extending out through the mouth portion 22.

The dispenser 20 has a removable top cover 25, which consists of acylindrical curved rearward portion 26 and a fiat straight forwardportion 27, which is slidably removable from the container 21 and whichforms the top of the container and the top of the mouth portion 22.

The container portion 21 has fiat side walls 28 and 29 and an annularcylindrical bottom wall 30. The side walls 28 and 29 are fixed to thebottom wall. The bottom channel member 31 is formed integrally with thebottom wall 30 and projects laterally away to form the bottom of themouth portion 22. The channel member 31 has inturned flanges 32 and 33which form a guideway for the flat straight portion 22 of the removablecover, with the outer end 24' of the gauze roller between the bottom 31'of the channel member 31 and the fiat portion 27 so as to slide freelybetween.

Operation A roll of conventional medicinal gauze 24 ..is placed in thecontainer portion 21, by removing the sliding cover 25. The cover isremoved by sliding it rearward from its position shown in solid lines inFIGURE 2 to its position shown in phantom lines in FIGURE 2. The coveris slid rearward until it is free of the inturned flanges 32 and 33. Thegauze is then placed in the container and the outer free end 24' isplaced on the bottom 31 of the channel member as shown in FIGURE 5. Thecover 25 is then replaced by sliding the flat end 27 back into thechannel member 31, to its original position shown in FIGURE 5.

To wrap gauze about an object 34, such as an arm or leg as illustratedin FIGURE 6, the operator will grasp the outer free end 24 of the gauzeand hold it on the arm in the area to be wrapped to start the wrappingoperation. While holding the outer end 24 in place with his left hand,he will insert his index finger into the sleeve 23, and while retaininghis finger in the sleeve will rotate his right arm about the arm or leg34 causing the dispenser to rotate about arm 34 clockwise as illustratedin position 35, 36, 27, and 38, which will cause the gauze 24 to feedout the mouth 22 and wrap flat around the object 34. In order to controlthe rate of feed of the gauze and the tension on the gauze the operatorwith his right thumb may press down on the fiat portion 27, which willcompress the gauze 24 between the fiat portion 27 and the bottom 31 andcreate a drag on the gauze. Also, the removable cover may have an innerrib 39 of rubber or other friction creating material, which rib mayextend laterally across the underside of the flat portion 27.

In the modified form of gauze dispenser illustrated in FIGURES 7-10,inclusive, the gauze dispenser invention 40 has a container portion 41,similar to container portion 21. Except that one side wall 42 is fixedto the cover member 43 so that the cover member 43, which has a fiatforward end 44, and cylindrically curved rear end 45, slides out of thecontainer portion 41, along with the side wall 42.

The container 21 has a cylindrical bottom wall 46 and an opposing sideWall 47 fixed to the bottom wall. The mouth portion 47, has a bottomchannel member 4 which is formed integrally with the bottom wall 46 ofthe container portion. The channel member 48 has a pair of inturnedflanges 49 and 50 which are similar to flanges 32 and 33 and which forma guideway for the fiat forward end 44. The outer free end 24' of theroll of gauze 24 freely slides between the flat member 44 and. thebottom wall 48 of the channel member.

A pin 49 is fixed to the inside of the side wall 47, and provides anaxial support for the gauze roll 24. A post 50 is fixed to the outsideof wall 47, coaxially with the pin 49. A rotating sleeve 51 is rotatablymounted over the post 50 to form a handle and a screw 52 is threadedpartially into the end of the post 50 and confronts an annular rib 51'of the sleeve to hold the sleeve on the post.

Operation The operation of the modified gauze dispenser 40 is similar tothe first form of the'invention.

To install the gauze roll 24 the cover 43 is slid out of the container41, and the Wall 42 being fixed to the cover slides out of the containerand once the fiat 44 of the cover is clear of the inturned flanges 49and 50 the cover is free of the dispenser. The gauze roll 24 is theninserted coaxially over the pin 49, and the outer free end 24 of thegauze roll 24 is laid on the bottom 48' of the channel member and thecover is then replaced, with the outer free end 24' of the gauze rollbetween the fiat end 24 and the bottom 48 and freely slidabletherebetween.

To wrap the gauze about an object such as an arm or leg, the operationis identical except that the operator will grasp the handle 51 with hisright hand instead of inserting his right index finger into the sleeve23 as in the first form.

With his left hand holding the outer free end 24 of the gauze to theobject in the area to be wrapped, the operator while continuouslygrasping the handle 51 will rotate the dispenser 40 about the objectsuch as an arm or leg, with the gauze feeding out of the mouth portion47 and wrapping fiat about the object. To apply tension or drag to thegauze the operator with his thumb of his right hand will press the coverdown on the container or mouth portion in the same manner as describedin the first form of the invention.

Thus it will be seen from the foregoing that a novel gauze dispenserinvention has been provided which enables gauze to be wrapped about anobject rapidly and without the operator having to personally touch eachlay er of the gauze or roll as it is wrapped, and providing only aminimum contact by operator with the gauze, and that the dispenser maybe inexpensively made and provides a construction affording a rapidwrapping of the gauze.

It will be obvious that various changes and departures may be made tothe invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof andaccordingly it is not intended that the invention be limited to thatspecifically described in the specification or illustrated in thedrawings but only as set forth in the appended claims wherein.

What is claimed is:

1. A strip gauze dispenser comprising a container having at least agenerally annular portion with sidewalls disposed laterally to theannular portion with said container being adapted to receive therein astrip of gauze wound :into a roll; said annular portion having anelongated slotted mouth for feeding the strip-of gauze out of thecontainer in a continuous strip, a handle projectingfromoneofsaidsidewalls of saidcontainer, and'rotative- 1y mountedthereto with it's rotational'axis disposed in generally" parallelrelationship to the centerfaxis 'of the gauze whereby: an operator maygrasp; said handle with one hand and hold an outer-end of -thegauze toan object to be wrapped with his other hand and 'rotatethe dispen'serabout the'object'with his said one-hand causing the dispenser to rotaterelative to the handle and the gauze to wrap about the object, saidcontainer having a portion movable to create an opening in saidcontainer for replacement of the gauze.

2. A strip gauze dispenser according "to claim 1 wherein said containerhas a spike-therein for-axially receiving said rollof gauze;

3. 'A strip gauze dispenser according to claim 1 wherein said movableportion of said container comprises portions of said annular portion andis slidably movable in a rectalinear direction for creating said openingfor said replacement of said gauze.

4. A strip gauze dispenser comprising a container having at least agenerally annular portion with sidewalls disposed laterally to theannular portion with said container being adapted to receive therein astrip of gauze wound into a roll, said annular portion having anelongated slotted mouth for feeding the gauze outof the container in acontinuous strip, a cylindrical sleeve mounted to said containeradjacent the exterior of said annular wall portion and in generallyparallel relationship to the center axis of the gauze whereby anoperator may insert his finger of said one hand into said sleeve andhold an outer end of the gauze to an object to be wrapped with his otherhand and rotate the dispenser about the object with his said one handcausing the dispenser to rotate relative to his finger and the gauze towrap about the object, said container having a portion movable to createan opening in said container for replacement of the gauze.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS BoBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.J. L. KOHNEN, Assistant Examiner.

